In your opinion, what is the difference between sharing about something or bragging about something? Would you say bragging is a sign of self conceit or maybe insecurity, or something else?
Know anyone personally that you can provide an example of bragging?

(09-03-2013 11:16 PM)LadyJane Wrote: In your opinion, what is the difference between sharing about something or bragging about something? Would you say bragging is a sign of self conceit or maybe insecurity, or something else?
Know anyone personally that you can provide an example of bragging?

(09-03-2013 11:16 PM)LadyJane Wrote: In your opinion, what is the difference between sharing about something or bragging about something? Would you say bragging is a sign of self conceit or maybe insecurity, or something else?
Know anyone personally that you can provide an example of bragging?

I know a lot of braggarts but I don't know of any specific examples I can share because whatever it is a braggart goes on about is usually not worth storing in one's memory hole. Bragging is definitely insecurity on display but all to often, sharing is confused with bragging... usually by a fellow braggart.

Bragging, in and of itself isn't a bad thing though. We need confirmation from others when we do something good and the only way to get that confirmation, most of the time, is to share it or, brag. It becomes and issue when the thing bragged about is purported to be better than yours or, theirs, etc.

Recently, I caught a post on this forum that I thought of as bragging. The title was something like "Look what I did today" and in it, the author was sharing a fish tank stand he had built. It was a rather simple design and being that I'm a pretty good carpenter, my first thought was wow, he's bragging about something that simple to build? Ah but... that was my own inner self being a braggart. The reality was (I'm speculating) that he finished his project and was proud of it so he wanted to share. I'm sure he was fishing for compliments which is a perfectly valid & human thing to do, but also, he was interested in sharing his idea with others who might be in need of a fish tank stand themselves. So by showing his to others, he was saying "Hey, I did this and you can too". If I remember correctly, he offered up a material list just for that purpose.

I shared that experience to illustrate that bragging is often in the eye of the beholder. We're all subject to that perception, especially when the thing being talked about is a thing of interest to ourselves. So yeah, bragging sucks but not being able to discern the difference between bragging and sharing information can be a much more egregious "sin". Not to mention... embarrassing.

The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their right names. - Chinese Proverb